Slut-shaming is far more harmful than simple name-calling - although being denigrated publicly in itself can be traumatic, as the suicides of a number of slut-shamed girls attests. Once a girl or woman is regarded as a slut or ho, she becomes a target for sexual assault. And if she is sexually assaulted, she may be assigned the slut or ho identity ex post facto to rationalize the crime and to protect the assaulter.